


I used to live alone before I knew you

by TrekFaerie



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Platonic Cuddling, Vignette
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-07
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-01-23 21:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1579595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekFaerie/pseuds/TrekFaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two Freds flee across the country...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> what hath i wrought
> 
> consider this like an AU of Confines where they just fuck off and leave Will to his doings

She sits in front of a motel bathroom mirror, hands gripping the sink in front of her, hair fallen in front of her eyes. To one side, is a pair of scissors; to the other, a box of black hair dye.

She hears him bustling in the motel room, complaining about how cheap it is and how horrible it’s going to be to have to share a bed with her, again. When the noise stops, she doesn’t need to look in the reflection to see him paused in the bathroom door.

“Do you know the last time I cut my hair?” she asks. “Actually cut it, I mean. Not just a trim.”

She doesn’t wait for a reply. “Senior year of college. That was the last time.”

She takes the scissors in hand, bring them shakily up to her beautiful hair—

“Wait.”

His hand is hovering just above her shoulder. Close enough for her to know he’s there, but not close enough to touch. “You’ll get more attention with a terrible haircut than you would with your normal hair,” he says, and she can hear the thin smile. “I have steadier hands. Doctor’s hands.”

“You failed out of surgical college.” And yet, she sits on the edge of the queen bed, towel wrapped around her shoulders as she watches snip after snip of carmine fall around her. His hands are steady, and quiet. And fast. Her curls hang just below her ears when he’s finished, and half of her wants to stop him when he goes for the hair dye, but she knows it has to happen.

After, she stares at the mirror as he washes up, trying to recognize the reflection as herself. It’s difficult. She’s never even imagined herself with dark hair.

Chilton limps back into the room and sits on the bed next to her. Close, but not touching. “You look beautiful,” he says suddenly, and there’s an air of finality to it. Like he’s uncovered some great truth.

The dark-haired woman in the mirror smiles and turns her eyes to the dark-haired man in the mirror. “All that’s left is shaving your head.” And the dark-haired woman in the mirror laughs as the dark-haired man in the mirror squawks at the indignity of it all.

That night, they sleep with a wall of pillows between them.


	2. Chapter 2

The pillow wall had been more for Chilton’s own dignity than anything else; Freddie has slept beside enough people in her life to trust herself, but Chilton had seemed incredibly nervous about the whole idea of it. She’d watched him pace the room the first night, cursing every deity he could think of for taking up all the rooms with two twin beds, and she’d wondered why.

Freddie’s whole life is about finding out the truth. She finds it out the third night of their journey.

On that night, she discovers that Frederick Chilton is a very, _very_ dedicated cuddler.

The wall doesn’t last long; the pillows have long since found their way to the floor. Freddie wakes up in the middle of the night—the bright green light next to her head tells her it’s 2:43AM—to the feel of warmth against her. At first, she thinks she’s having some kind of weird sleep paralysis episode, but a slight snore makes her realize the warmth around her is alive and breathing.

Chilton’s head is tucked right underneath her chin, resting just above her breast. His arms and legs are wrapped around her, and his body is pressed flush against her side. He’s latched onto her like she’s some kind of doll, and seems to be completely asleep.

She considers, very briefly, pushing him off the bed. Watching him sputter and try to deny it would be pretty funny, she thought… But, she’s never seen his face looking so calm before. Not even before the whole business with the Ripper started. He looks rather handsome when he’s not stressed out and ornery.

She sighs into his hair, closes her eyes, and quickly falls back asleep.

 

“ _Gah_!”

It’s a strange, guttural noise that wakes Freddie up the next morning, and she opens her eyes to see Chilton sitting on the edge of the bed, face in his hands. She yawns theatrically and crawls next to him, leaning over his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” comes the muffled reply from behind his hands. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“Do you do this with every person you sleep with?” No response. She couldn’t help the smirk. “You must’ve been really popular at sleepovers.”

“It’s been…”

“’It’s been a long time?’”

His hands finally leave his face, and he gives her a sideways glance. “Yes,” he says. “Yes, it has been. It’s been very, very long.”

“It’s not…” She pauses, uncertain of how to phrase herself. It’s not very often that she’s at a loss for words. “Hotel rooms are always so drafty. It was a little… nice. It’s certainly not the strangest thing I’ve ever woken up to in the middle of the night.”

He finally turns to face her fully. There are tension lines cutting into his forehead. The stress is back, and she’s surprised by how much that displeases her.

“May I kiss you?” he asks.

Well. It’s certainly not the strangest question she’s ever been asked.

“With grammar like that?” she says. “How could I say no?”

As they kiss, she runs gentle fingers along the side of his face until she feels the skin calm underneath them.


End file.
